The Pros of Technological Devices for Education

Assistive technology devices for education do not guarantee a passing grade but increase the chances greatly. After all, psychologists proved that studying with the help of various advanced technologies and innovations makes student’s life easier and more exciting. What is more important, specific devices for disabled children let them gain the basis of knowledge.

Having conducted a short research on current technological influence, we can say that the impact of electronic devices turned a red-hot trend in education. The numerous studies of this effect claim that modern additional tools save a plenty of student’s time, are already generally accepted, reduce academic barriers and force students to do their assignments more enthusiastically.

More than 500 enrolled students took part in the recent observations by CourseSmart and Wakefield Research. Almost all students have applied their electronic devices in the process of in-class learning. And all of them used their e-friends at home when handling homework assignments. The biggest share (around 90%) are doing that due to the lack of time. Only 10% are genuinely interested in gaining more skills. But the situation changes with the heavy users. In any case, having electronic knowledge addiction is far better than a drug one.

On the average, one student turns to the help of at least three devices per day. The purposes may be different: e-learning, academic papers download, info search, social networks (a top leading position), online games, but almost each activity is somehow related to the educational progress. 67% of students currently can call themselves heavy technological tools users. This obsession makes them use a favorite stuff every single hour.

On the other hand, researches show that audio and e-Books are far more useful than print textbooks. Students consider print materials as a sort of boring out-of-time fiction rather than a helpful educational material. Half of the students prefer bringing laptop to class than carrying heavy books. Only 5% believes in their significance. The thing is that textbooks provide fewer images while students need to visualize. Video and audio lessons are more convenient to memorize. Plus, they are capable of developing teen’s imagination and world perception.

On-the-go reference to necessary data is another crucial feature provided by digital tools only. Almost 80% students cope with research tasks faster by involving search engines into the process and they hate dishing the dirt in old dusty libraries.

70% of respondents experienced time storage in the amount of 2-5 hours that is an incredible rate. Most of the students are more similar with search engines like Google or Yahoo usage than textbook’s table of contents. Right, everything’s changing.

eReaders, tablets, and mobile applications can solve the problems of students who dislike reading. All university students come to class being well equipped with electronic devices of different kinds. These institutions officially allow their usage. High school teachers are starting to get along well with this practice as well. Bob’s your uncle.

Moreover, online courses are gaining an extreme popularity. Some students reject attending traditional classes in favor of a new distance learning approach. Taking it into account, teachers of some disciplines start running additional online classes which sometimes appear to be more efficient. 60% of the students today prefer online education because it provides more freedom and ability to work at their own pace.

Technological devices allow to solve the problems of information lack. Whenever you are required to conduct a complete research, collecting the data online guarantees success unless the selected sources are credible. It is recommended to use only proved sources. Also, to avoid plagiarism blame, always insert the visited links into the papers. Taking online quiz and exam prepares the student more efficiently than end-book self-tests. Not all of the textbooks provide the keys. So, the students cannot be sure they got it right. An answer to any complex question can be found on the web, no matter how much time has to be spent. The process of searching develops a range of other useful skills.

Moreover, professors support the idea of digitizing the world. All young instructors bring their laptops and prepare in-class materials in a way to encourage students participation. The impact of technological devices on modern education turn the educational world upside-down: even elder generation’s teachers start implementing e-tools on their lessons. The approach to learning changes in a better way. That is proved by overall students performance expressed in GPA ratings.

There is no ideal technology that will suit everyone yet. Smartphones and iPads made it to the top. Thanks to their portability and lightness, the process of education satisfies even the worst performing students.

Washington university does not fall behind: its independent research also bears fruit. The students here are applying various devices frequently. The studies showed that this practice has a positive effect on their attention more than on other brain functions. And that is exactly what modern teens are lacking. Lower level of engagement was noticed without digital tools involvement. In addition, a negative correlation between use of laptops in class and course grade. 600 students took part in the university’s studies.

On the whole, the following practices are recommended for all educational institutions:

• Official permission to bring laptops in class;
• Media multi-tasking;
• Manipulation of software;
• Quantitative calculations and database research assignments;
• Edifying applications to be advised.

Let’s take a look at the main devices used for educational purposes today. iPad, no doubt, is the top choice of the year. Despite the lack of keyguard and bright surface distracting the attention, its outstanding characteristics such as keyboards variation, multiple tools recognition, and voice output make this little wonder student’s best friend. Check it out at http://www.apple.com/ipad to find applications and features that will suit you fine.

A modestly looking NEO is portable enough. It is also rechargeable, with a long battery life. Despite its abilities look limited, it suits perfectly for downloading academic materials and other files directly to the computer.

Fusion is for students striving for word prediction. Teens often experience difficulties with recalling some words while writing their essays or term papers. This small and portable wonder will do it all for you:

All-time in demand letter boards are the cheapest argumentative technologies. QWERTY and alphabetical keyboards are present, certain short answers like “yes” or “no” are available too. Space, delete, grammar check and punctuation keys are useful for all types of learning, especially for language and literature classes. A student can easily check the whole text any time. Recommended to the beginners, a simple board can be found here: .